Vancity’s On Line Banking Back On Line – May Have Found Cause (VIDEO)

Vancouver/Fraser Valley – OCTOBER 6, 8PM UPDATE -The on line banking system for Vancity is slowly coming back on line, but it will take time to restore all the information that went into cyber limbo. CEO Tamara Vrooman said they may have found the problem:

We are pleased to report that our systems are fully restored. That means members have access to their online banking, mobile app, point of sales, ATM’s and Visa.

Now that the system is online, the main thing members will want to know is the cause of this significant outage. We are committed to get to the bottom of this issue. While we will need to conduct a thorough investigation to be certain, we believe it has something to do with the interface between our multiple systems.

Part of the reason it has taken so long for us to restore the system is because we have taken significant precautions to thoroughly test and retest the system to be confident that it would work the way members rightly expect it should.

[5:00pm PST] You may notice that some of the transactions you’ve made since our system went offline are not yet appearing in your account. They will show up as we restore the system. Thank you for your patience. For more details, check here: https://t.co/BoA0e4QUfH

[3:15 PM PT] We have fixed the issues with our banking system and are now beginning to bring the various elements back online. We will be doing so gradually throughout the afternoon. For more details check here: https://t.co/rXneFNtUU1

OCTOBER 6, 10 AM UPDATE – Vancity’s CEO took to the bank’s webpage to address the continuing problem with the shutdown in on line banking service:

Since midnight on Wednesday night (October 3) our online banking system has been down, as have some of our other services.

We want to apologize to our members for the inconvenience this has caused. We know how much you rely on these services and how frustrating this is.

We have committed all of our resources to work through the technical issues and to get the system up and running as soon as possible. We want to assure you that we have ruled out a privacy or security breach of any kind.

Extended Hours

Branches will be open from 9:30 am to 3 pm on October 6, 7 and 8 (Saturday to Monday)

Member Services Centre will be open from 8 am to 8 pm on October 6, 7 and 8 (Saturday to Monday)

Again, we apologize for this service disruption. We are working very hard to make this right. In terms of late fees or penalties, @Vancity President and CEO Tamara Vrooman says BC Hydro, Telus will not charge any extra fees, and if they are Vancity will cover them.

Update [10:30am PT] Message from our CEO: Everyone throughout Vancity is pulling together to restore our banking services. In the meantime, members have access to point of sale transactions, ATMs and Vancity Visa. Our latest update from our CEO here. https://t.co/BoA0e4QUfH

OCTOBER 5 ORIGINAL STORY – Not a great time for any business to lose their on line presence, but when you are a major financial institution, and for more than 48 hours, your customers can not do any on line banking — before a long weekend– that does not make your business look good.

Such is the dilemma for Vancity.

UPDATE: [1:00 PM PT] We continue to work to restore services to our banking system. ATM, Vancity Visa, and point of sales transactions are working. Our call centre and branches are now open and while our transaction capabilities are limited, we will try our best to assist you.

Vancity has not put out a media release on their website but have mentioned to a few media outlets that a representative stated they (Vancity) have ruled out the possibility of a security breach or hacking as the cause, but have not given a timeline for when the service will go back up.

According to their website, ATMs, Visa or debit transactions can still be put through in person, although social media to FVN has said otherwise.

It's not only online banking. It's there whole system! There's nothing that can be done at branches either.

CEO Tamara Vrooman's statement of “Frankly, it’s been a little more difficult to determine what the exact cause is.” should be a sign that this is going to take a long time to rectify. Ruling out security breach without knowing the cause doesn't seem legit. @Vancity#Vancity